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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Nation, I'm not at the Calgary West AGM today myself, however I DO have sources on the inside, who will be feeding me information as today's events go down.

As of 1:00 pm, there are about 60 people milling about outside the hall - spirits are reportedly high.

UPDATED 1:18 pm

Both "candidates" (MP Rob Anders and Donna Kennedy-Glans) are at the hall. Kennedy-Glans approached the MP and offered him a handshake - he blew her off and refused to shake. Classy.

UPDATED 1:54 pm

Estimates suggest that the Calgary West PC AGM may, in fact, be a "standing room only" affair. A lot of people have turned out, which is either very good for the incumbent and his board, or very, very bad.

UPDATED 1:59 pm

Conservative (as oppsed to "closeted Liberal") estimates put the turn-out at 500 to 600 people. For an AGM and Board election.

The proceedings are about to get underway.

UPDATED 2:40 pm

Nominations came and went, the voting has finished, and the counting has commenced. Obviously, both sides want to be VERY sure that the ballots are counted carefully, and a result is expected by 5 or 6 o'clock.

UPDATED 3:23 pm

Reportedly, the meeting and the voting went very smoothly. No one with a valid membership was turned away, and everyone had the chance to vote for their choices for the Board of Directors. So, no shenanigans. With the media in attendance, the heat was on the EDA to get this one right.

UPDATED 4:11 pm

Just got off the phone with a source, who indicated that the voting and nominations were run in an extremely professional manner. Nominations were taken from those within the hall, as well as those who couldn't fit and had to stand outside. Supporters of both "sides" proved to be very civil (even if the MP couldn't bring himself to be), which bodes well for the party in Calgary West after all is said and done. Scrutineers have been brought in from other Tory EDA's to count the ballots and certify the results. When I know, you'll know.

UPDATED 7:02 pm

The Donna Kennedy-Glans-backed slate of candidates has been elected as the Board of Directors for the Calgary West EDA of the Conservative Party of Canada.More as it develops.

The Board decides whether to protect his nomination or require a nom race - the old Board was Anders supporters and wasn't going to allow a race. Thus Anders didn't really sell more memberships and now he's caught with his pants down.

New CPC rules require 2/3 of the active members in an EDA to vote in favour of a candidate other than a sitting MP in order to oust him. That's not 2/3 of voters who show up for a nomination vote, that's 2/3 of all active members. There's no way they'll be able to get Donna nominated.

I agree that there is a crucial next step for this newly minted Board, that being dealing with the vote where the CPC will ask for a ratification of the sitting MP as the candidate for the next election. The task of getting two thirds of the membership to respond let alone vote one way or another is a daunting one.

What will happen, regardless, is that Mr. Anders will be dealing with a new group that will hold more accountability that he has demonstrated in his recent performance. That accountability should be welcomed by Mr. Anders if he is sincere in wanting to do a good job.

As well, should the nomination ratification vote indicate that the membership of Calgary West want a nomination race, then that, too, should be welcomed by Mr. Anders, again to reflect his sincerity in wanting to contest on his record.

"How is it "over for Anders"? What exactly is the board capable of doing to oust him other than embarrass him and the party in the media?"

We will do nothing of the sort I am a conservative and I support our party and our Prime Minster. What we will do is create an accountable and transparent EDA and make Calgary West the best ridding it can and should be!!!

"New CPC rules require 2/3 of the active members in an EDA to vote in favour of a candidate other than a sitting MP in order to oust him. That's not 2/3 of voters who show up for a nomination vote, that's 2/3 of all active members. There's no way they'll be able to get Donna nominated."

Not everyone was running to get Donna elected, many just want a accountable and transparent EDA unlike the old one.

"So how long until this is called a Coup d'Etat?"

It is nothing of the sort, I am a conservative as is every single other board member elected.

Now we've got a bunch of political neophytes running the executive committee. There might be a couple out of the 30 who have some experience, but most of those running on behalf of Ms Kennedy-Glans are way out of their league. This is going to be a gong show

As someone above pointed out, the board has zero say in whether or not there is a nomination process.

My question remains: how can the board "hold Anders accountable"?

Is the new board planning to:1) Slam Anders in the media?2) Refuse to transfer money to Anders in the next election?3) Work behind the scenes to disadvantage the Conservative Party candidate (if it remains Rob)?

I would suggest that none of those are particularly ethical or noble goals, whether you like Rob or not.

Is the board responsible to the MP, or is the MP responsible to the board? Are the candidates that were elected yesterday going to work on Rob's behalf from now until the next election? Or are they going to try to sabotage Rob's efforts? It will be interesting, to say the least.

The Board is responsible to the members of the EDA, as well as to the Party. Part of that is providing support for the current MP, but also presiding over a fair and equitable nomination process, should one go forward.

No where have we seen a list of the new Board members. The television news talked of a Marilyn Austin who was on the existing Board. From a friend who was there, she indicated that there are several former Board members as well as a lot of folks with campaign and organizational experience from the Provincial side.

Oh, and isn't both the Board and the MP responsible and accountable back to the membership and the constituents? Isn't that what was missing before this change?

It's Michelle not Marilyn. She was actually not on the existing board, she's a newly elected member as is everyone else. Here is the list of the 08/09 board and her name is not there (http://www.calgarywest.com/index.asp?id=14)

There are members with previous Calgary West board experience and other with current/previous provincial board experience such as myself.

We will be accountable and transparent to the membership. The MP has to be accountable to the constituents as he's the one who represents them in Ottawa.

Accountable, transparency. What a laugh. This is all about a group of people deciding they are better off with one of their own at the trough when the next election is held. I do not know who Anders is, I do not recall any media reports for or against him in the Edmonton Journal or Sun so this is not a personal comment about him.

I must agree with Anon 7:23 on the farce of calling this a victory for being "accountable and transparent." This was simply a power struggle between Rob's "toadies" and Donna's "toadies." Nothing more, nothing less.

I don't know whether these claims are standard partisan vitriol or just pure naivete, but oh well.

BTW, could someone explain to me exactly how the 2008-09 board wasn't "accountable and transparent" (other than "they didn't want to get rid of Anders")?

As other commenters have pointed out, the EDA board can't force a nomination, but they can do various other things, such as:- Look for opportunities to publicly attack the Conservative MP- Refuse to fund the Conservative Calgary West campaign during an election- Spend the EDA's war chest (earned via the work of the previous board members) on things like lawsuits against the Conservative Party

The new board will be judged on their behaviour from this point forward. If they engage in any of the above actions, it's a safe bet that "accountability and transparency" have nothing to do with their plans for Calgary West.

BTW Enlightened Savage, your source was a little off on his reporting. Voting continued until well after 3pm (not 2:40), and the media was not "in attendance" (they had to stay outside, with no way to check for "shenanigans").

Wow, so the Liberals couldn't win an election so they decided to pretend to be Conservatives, join the Party, and take over the Calgary West Board. Can't wait until this all backfires in your faces. You say your job is to support the MP yet your letter from your Acting President clearly calls for members to have him replaced. You're a bunch of jokers and you'll get what's coming to you. Anders will prevail whether you like it or not.

Who Is The Enlightened Savage?

The Enlightened Savage (Joey Oberhoffner) is a 38 year-old, life-long Albertan with one foot in each of the private (small business owner) and public (provincial public service) sectors. He is a self-confessed political junkie/policy wonk, with a sometimes disturbing affinity for Montreal Smoked Meat, gadgets, and well-written television.

Joey began blogging in late 2006 under the nom de plume of "The Enlightened Savage", and rapidly became well-known as an even-handed analyst of municipal and provincial political issues. He offered in-studio commentary on CBC Radio One for Municipal Election Night 2007, did analysis for the 2010 Municipal Election and the 2011 Federal Election, and appeared in-studio on CityTV for analysis of the results on Provincial Election Night 2008.

Joey also writes at and is a founding contributor for CalgaryPolitics.com.

Hate-mail, love letters, and offers of support for his campaign to change politics for the better can be sent to amishbuggyracing (at) gmail (dot) com.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author himself, and are not meant in any way to reflect the opinions of any organization for which he either works or volunteers.

Perfecting Alberta

Joey O's Policy Points

"This guy is obviously a raging leftist - how can he possibly call himself a conservative?"

THIS is how. Because the public policies I advocate for are conservative - and I don't have to support your chosen right-wing politician or pet issue to be allowed to use the name "conservative".

- Fixed Provincial Election Dates (I'm leaning towards the second Monday of May, every 4 years. Would VERY rarely come into contact with a late Easter, otherwise it's smooth sailing...)

- Full Disclosure of Donors and their Contribution amounts at all levels of elected office, including internal party races, BEFORE the votes are cast - we deserve to know who's funding the war chests of our would-be leaders. And none of this "numbered corporation" crap either.

- A fully funded and independent Auditor General

- Economic diversification. Even a five-year old knows it's a bad idea to carry all your eggs in one basket.

- Making Alberta's Oilsands the standard bearer for environmental sensitivity while also making them the most sought-after business opportunity for large and mid-size operators in North America.

- Getting our energy products to market and getting a global price for them by working with our neighbours, rather than throwing tantrums and accomplishing nothing.

- Promotion of eco-tourism as a way to showcase the unique character of Alberta's landscape and people and boosting local economies.

- Capping government program spending increases from year to year at the rate of inflation plus population growth.

- Making the MLA "Tax-Free Allowance" just that - an allowance. Anything that isn't spent on expenses related to their work (e.g. rent in Edmonton, vehicular or transportation costs, hospitality) should be returned to the provincial treasury, or taxed as income.

- More recorded votes and fewer in camera sessions at all levels of government. The work of our governments should be public and indexable unless there is a clear reason why it shouldn't be.